Thank you for agreeing to be a session moderator. Here are some instructions and suggestions. You can already access the abstracts for each of the papers in your session at: https://www.conftool.org/imwa2024/index.php?page=showModerator.
- Before your session begins, familiarize yourself with the room (e.g. how to dim the lights) and the computer set-up so that you can instruct the speakers on how to use the remote and the pointer. Check that all the appropriate presentations for your session are on the computer before the session. The speakers have also been instructed to meet you in the room before the session begins (during the break or earlier). When you meet them, ask them how to pronounce their name to ensure you pronounce it properly and that you have some introduction material for them. And please let them know that they have 25 minutes at most for their presentation and that includes time for questions.
- Start the session at the designated time by introducing yourself and letting folks know what session they are in (just in case they are in the wrong room). And remind everyone to turn off their phone or at least put them on vibrate.
- Introduce each speaker. If the speaker is a student (designated with a graduate cap, 🎓, in the program), ask the audience to help select the best student presentations by filling out the short survey using the conference app, which will be provided to you when you register. We have asked each speaker to provide a short introduction. We will distribute these to you for your session about a week before the conference begins. However, these are not defined scripts – feel free to go off-script, as appropriate, especially if you feel that you can help a nervous speaker feel more comfortable or if you know the speaker personally.
- Keep the session on time! The presentation time slots are all 25 minutes long so that conference participants can easily move from one room to another to hear the talks they are most interested in. You will have signs to show the speakers the amount of time they have left; at 5 min, 2 min, 1 min, and STOP! If they reach their time limit, stand up and interrupt the speaker if necessary, thank the speaker, and then move on to the next (no questions!). Assuming the speakers finish a few minutes before their time is expired, encourage the audience to ask questions. Be prepared to ask the first question to get things started, but generally, you should only do so if no one else speaks up. Note that if all of the questions have been exhausted or if a speaker fails to show up, your next speaker(s) should not start their presentation until their designated time.
- Please note any papers that you feel should be submitted for potential publication in IMWA’s journal, Mine Water and the Environment. Conference papers, although published on-line, have limited readership and are limited in length, so if you feel that the work being presented is especially noteworthy, please encourage the authors to expand the paper and submit it for publication in the journal. Please also let the Editor-in-Chief know about such papers so that he can also remind the authors after the conference to submit the paper to the journal.
- Enjoy your session and pay attention. It always looks bad when the moderator falls asleep or falls off of his/her chair during the session.